THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 14, 1996 TAG: 9606130186
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JO-ANN CLEGG, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 73 lines
Sonia Montero, Kellam High School class of '96, is friendly, composed, poised and fun to be around, the kind of teen that other youngsters' mothers hope that their own daughters will be like.
Montero's also responsible, in the way that most oldest daughters are.
And she's talented, having sung everything from first soprano to second alto in the school chorus.
Capable is another adjective that's frequently used to describe the Red Mill Farm resident. She's been secretary of what appears to be half of the extracurricular activities at Kellam over the years.
In her junior year she served as both secretary and treasurer of the Student Cooperative Association. ``I was elected secretary but nobody ran for treasurer so I ended up being that too,'' she said in way of explanation.
And then there's the academic stuff. The young woman who moved to Virginia Beach when she was in fourth grade has been in just about every gifted, talented and challenge program that the school district has to offer: Old Donation Center for the Gifted and Talented, Governor's School for Science and Technology, varsity letter for Academic Challenge, The Virginian-Pilot Scholastic Achievement Team and membership on a championship Odyssey of the Mind team, to mention a few.
Despite all her talents and awards, Montero comes across as the very nice girl next door. The one who watches out for her two younger sisters, has a nice boy friend, is looking for a summer job and makes her parents very proud.
Like most children of hard working middle-class families these days, Montero also was faced with a major problem.
How to get a college education without sending her family and herself deeply into debt.
Fortunately for Montero, there was a solution.
As the valedictorian of her class (with a hefty 4.1 average), she was chosen first-runner up in the Second Congressional District George Mason Scholar competition.
Unfortunately, the runner-up spot had no monetary award attached to it. Fortunately, the primary candidate had other plans.
In April, Montero got a call from a George Mason University dean
saying that the award winner had turned the scholarship down. The free ride at the popular Northern Virginia school was hers: room, board, tuition and books fully paid for all four years so long as she maintains a 3.0 (B) average.
``I was crying, my mom was crying, everybody was crying,'' Montero said of the evening back in April that the call came.
For her dad, retired Navy man and systems analyst Sam Guidry, and her mom, Margaret Montero-Guidry, an administrative assistant with Merrill Lynch, the scholarship was the answer to every parent's prayer.
``I've been looking forward to college, knowing that my parents didn't have the money to do it if I didn't get some help,'' Montero said.
In addition to the George Mason award, she received a $5,000 a year scholarship from her mother's employer. Known as the Michael W. McCarthy Scholarship, the grants are awarded nationwide to the children of Merrill Lynch workers.
Without the financial aid, Montero would have worked multiple jobs and pieced together college expenses from a patchwork of grants and loans.
With the assistance she'll be able to pursue her dual major of music education and math with a lot less worry and be able to follow through with her plans for the future.
``Ten years from now I hope to be right back here at Kellam with a master's degree teaching music or math,'' she said. ``I hope it's music, but math would be OK, too,'' she added quickly. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MORT FRYMAN
Sonia Montero has been awarded a free ride to George Mason
University - room, board, tuition and books fully paid for all four
years so long as she maintains a 3.0 (B) average. ``I was crying, my
mom was crying, everybody was crying,'' Montero said of the evening
back in April when a dean from the school called with the news. by CNB